“Death is a part of life, death is a part of life, death is a part of life.” That was the mantra that pounded in my brain as I drove to New York City, boarded a flight to Zurich with my sister Nancy to be at the bedside of our beloved sister Kate when she ended her life by . It was not a surprise to be going to Pegasos, a voluntary assisted dying nonprofit in Basel, Switzerland, for Kate’s death.
She and I had discussed this day and her desire to be in control of her own death process since her diagnosis of stage 4 in April 2022. Our conversations were heartbreaking and beautiful, poignant, real, scary and often just funny. When she was first diagnosed, she declared in a matter-of-fact, isn’t-life-strange tone of voice, “Amy, I think I am needed elsewhere.
” She was telling me as clearly as possible that she knew in her bones where this was heading. Her words were plump with the mysterious wisdom reserved for shaman, medicine people, energy workers and healers. I shared Kate’s belief that our human bodies are simply vehicles, temporary containers needed in this world so that our souls can learn and grow.
But still, I loved my sister Kate in this body with the long, graceful fingers, the eyes filled to the brim with wisdom, the thick head of blond hair — the perfect topping that barely tethered her to the Earth. My sister Nancy and I purchased business class tickets knowing full well the impossibility of being emotionally present at this sacred ritual with no sl.
